Many consumer products on today's market include functional compounds to improve the product's characteristics. The functional compounds can be any material that acts upon a substrate or otherwise provides a benefit once delivered to the desired location. Examples of functional compounds that may enhance the value of a product include pharmaceuticals that are intended to be ingested, transferred transdermally, or subcutaneously injected into a human or animal patient's body, vitamins and nutrients, and various other additives that can be similarly introduced into or onto the body of a patient.
Additionally, non-pharmaceutical functional compounds can be incorporated into consumer products to improve the product's overall value. For example, products whose use is mainly for outdoors, such as deck furniture and automobile covers, could benefit by having UV absorbing compounds (UV absorbers) incorporated onto their surfaces. By absorbing UV rays, these compounds could provide an outdoor product having improved aesthetic properties and durability.
While the desire to incorporate these types of functional compounds is known, the present methods for delivering the functional compounds to products are expensive and complex. Specifically, the present methods require the use of complex chemical formulations and long, complex chemical processes to incorporate the compounds into a delivery system to facilitate the delivery of the compounds into or onto a product.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a process that can inexpensively and efficiently deliver functional compounds to various consumer products. Additionally, it would be advantageous if the process for delivering functional compounds was capable of allowing the functional compounds to be affixed to an adsorbent, but then capable of allowing ready release of the compounds upon the occurrence of a selected event or trigger.